Wainwright Revealed

Very good book, excellent.

Another book about one of the icons of UK walking in Cumbria

Excellent

Great book very enjoyable read

I bought it for a Christmas present for my son and so I've not read it but I'm sure it'll be of great interest.

well received xmas pressie

I have all of the Wainwright books, the guidebooks to the Lakes and biographies, with the exception of his 'picture' books of drawings. I was intrigued to find out if there was anything new here. Well, there isn't, but if you have not read all the others you might find something of interest. Wainwright was certainly an interesting character, but was he on the autistic spectrum? It seems fashionable nowadays to label anyone who does not fit the picture of 'normal', but personally I think he was just a grumpy old guy, a bit of a miserable sod, just like me!Other reviewers seem to wonder how on earth he was cajoled into making films for tv when he seemed to be such a miserable recluse, but this has been clearly explained in his biographies, particularly the best one by Hunter Davies. He did the films to raise money for his beloved Betty's 'pet' project, the animal shelter. Apparently this money went straight there as a charity donation so he did not need to pay tax on it. Unfortunately he didn't seem to think it fit to pass any to his long suffering first wife, Ruth, or his son. It has been said he was donating thousands to animal charities, at Betty's suggestion, while only giving Ruth £10 a week.Overall, worth a read, the anecdotes about filming are interesting and amusing and I did wonder why they just didn't tell AW to s*d off more than once when he tried to get his own way! The book flags a bit in the middle with a rather dreary chapter about the history of guide books to the Lake District. I can't see it being a best seller, most people have never really heard of AW outside the Lake District and his guide books are getting more outdated every year. A figure from a bygone age!

As someone who loves anything that takes me ‘behind the scenes’, I was looking forward to finding out exactly how Alfred Wainwright, a reclusive guidebook author, ended up as a TV celebrity, and this book certainly didn’t disappoint. Instead of dipping into it, as I expected (and there are some stunning photographs to enjoy), I finished it in two days. What made me keep reading was the special relationship which developed between Wainwright (AW) and film maker Richard Else, which enabled Else - supported by AW’s wife, Betty - to turn the planned one-off programme into several acclaimed series for the BBC that are still remembered decades later.I also didn’t expect so much humour, from AW’s dry comments to the secrets of how to cope with inquisitive reindeer when filming! There’s real affection in Else’s account of their relationship as well as admiration for AW’s unique style as a guidebook writer.It’s 65 years since Wainwright started work on his Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells and this book, in which Else makes a strong case for them to be regarded as important works of literature, is a very fitting tribute.